Eyes on the Senate: Immigration Reform Comes to the Floor

After months of discussion and deliberations, the Senate will begin debating comprehensive immigration reform on the floor this week. The Senate immigration overhaul, the 800+ page “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act” (S. 744), which we discussed here on the blog when it was introduced by the bipartisan Gang of Eight back in April, went through a number of changes during the Senate Judiciary Committee mark-up process last month and will likely be amended further as it moves through the floor debate and toward a final Senate vote. We can expect proposed amendments and debate on many issues in the coming days and weeks, including border security, access to health care coverage, and immigrant visas, but the Senate majority leadership has indicated that they hope to pass bipartisan legislation before the July 4th recess. You can watch the floor debate live as it progresses here on C-SPAN – and stay tuned to the blog, where we will provide updates on the immigration reform bill as it changes and additional analysis on key issues for health centers and their patients.